Update Post

[glorybound]

I thought I just posted this, but I don't see it. Here is an update to a previous post. I had time to play with VRAY settings. I think I have a good balance between speed and quality. Any comment and/or suggestions would be appreciated.

[glorybound]

Back side

Here is the rear of the same building ~ I nooticed the UVW mapping on the 3rd dormer and will fix that.

[ene.xis]

they look really nice!
the 2nd is gr8!
on the 1st one i still think u need some element of transition between the road and the grass...and the road might be a little to reflective in comparision to everything else
congrats!

[joconnell]

Yeah I really like the colour of the grass - it looks a little summer scorched - the second image is really nice, maybe a little dark in the shadows but a huge jump forward - nicely done!

[dlparisi]

The second one looks better than the first-it looks a little washed out, especially on the lower portion of the facade around the garages.

IMHO, your glass looks a little too reflective - it's almost the same color as the adjacent sky which I don't think is correct and kind of makes the building look like it has big holes in it.

The biggest problem for me though looks like the lack of any GI shadows (in corners, etc). Definitely noticeable on the second image where you'd expect some of the areas under the eaves to be pretty dark. This also makes things like the downspouts float a bit.

The faceted tree trunks are also a little distracting. The shakes, shingles and grass all look really nice though.

David

[glorybound]

GI

How would I increase the GI shadows? When these are all said and done I'll do some interior stuff that wil be seen through the windows. The only thing post here is the diffused glow and color correction, both in PhotoShop. the diffused glow is probably what is causing the washed out look on the first image.

I tried a HDRI, but it was so dark and I didn't have time to figure it out. Any clues why the same image and settings with HDRI turns out so much darker? I cranked the HDRI's multiplier to 10.

[priad]

good job , you can reduce the second bounce to have more contrast and affirm the hedges for your GI shadows, I know that many people here don't like this, but I think it works very well in this case. try to make a test with 0,6 or less.
I agree for the grass color, very good in the second in the first it is more blue.
I agree to for the bad low poly tree

[MHenry]

Very nice renderings! The second one looks great! Your trees looked much better in your previous dusk shot. They look a little to CG here. Have you considered adding your trees and plants later in photoshop?

[dlparisi]

Re: GI

How would I increase the GI shadows?

I tried a HDRI, but it was so dark and I didn't have time to figure it out. Any clues why the same image and settings with HDRI turns out so much darker? I cranked the HDRI's multiplier to 10.

You can do like Priad suggested and drop the secondary bounce and see if that helps. Try lighting the scene with no sun and just the HDRI or a vray sky and see if you can't get deeper shadows. If you're using the vraysun and try to do the skylight with a regular HDRI you probably need to crank the level up by around 100, not 10. Also try a vraysky for the skylight.

When these are all said and done I'll do some interior stuff that wil be seen through the windows.

You probably won't see much except the currents anyway and you'll still need to drop the reflection on the windows.

[VKNT]

The trees could certainly be improved. Smooth the trunk, and make it a bit more natural by adding some imperfections to it. It looks too straight imo. I would also make the trunk texture a bit darker.
But nice images overall, well done!

[DaForce]

Yeah 2nd image is really nice!!

First one still needs some tweaking.
Is it using the same light setup, just different camera position?
And yeah those trees need to be fixed